Constraining convective regions with asteroseismic linear structural inversions

¹ Institut d’Astrophysique et Géophysique de l’Université de Liège, Allée du 6 août 17, 4000 Liège, Belgium
e-mail: G.Buldgen@bham.ac.uk
² School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
³ LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon Cedex, France

Received: 24 February 2017
Accepted: 20 October 2017

Abstract

Context. Convective regions in stellar models are always associated with uncertainties, for example, due to extra-mixing or the possible inaccurate position of the transition from convective to radiative transport of energy. Such inaccuracies have a strong impact on stellar models and the fundamental parameters we derive from them. The most promising method to reduce these uncertainties is to use asteroseismology to derive appropriate diagnostics probing the structural characteristics of these regions.

Aims. We wish to use custom-made integrated quantities to improve the capabilities of seismology to probe convective regions in stellar interiors. By doing so, we hope to increase the number of indicators obtained with structural seismic inversions to provide additional constraints on stellar models and the fundamental parameters we determine from theoretical modeling.

Methods. First, we present new kernels associated with a proxy of the entropy in stellar interiors. We then show how these kernels can be used to build custom-made integrated quantities probing convective regions inside stellar models. We present two indicators suited to probe convective cores and envelopes, respectively, and test them on artificial data.

Results. We show that it is possible to probe both convective cores and envelopes using appropriate indicators obtained with structural inversion techniques. These indicators provide direct constraints on a proxy of the entropy of the stellar plasma, sensitive to the characteristics of convective regions. These constraints can then be used to improve the modeling of solar-like stars by providing an additional degree of selection of models obtained from classical forward modeling approaches. We also show that in order to obtain very accurate indicators, we need ℓ = 3 modes for the envelope but that the core-conditions indicator is more flexible in terms of the seismic data required for its use.